Christchurch United youth teams will face some of world football’s biggest club names when they participate in the Mediterranean International Cup to be staged in Spain.
The club’s U-13 boys will play in the same group as Crystal Palace (England), CSA MLS (United States) and CF Sant Feliu de Guíxols (Spain).
The U-13 category at the tournament has attracted 52 teams, including sides representing PSV (Netherlands), Olympique Marseille (France), Valencia (Spain), Southampton (England) and Newcastle United (England).
United’s U-18 team have been drawn in a group comprising Real Sociedad (Spain), Proyecto JDB (Spain) and (Spain).
Familiar names in the 56-team U-18 section include Olympique Marseille (France) and PSG Academy (France).
MIC Football have been running their Easter tournaments on Spain’s Costa Brava for 23 years, and organisers promote that past players at the event include Argentine legend Lionel Messi, Spanish international Rodri, Brazil’s Neymar Júnior and England midfielder Cole Palmer.
The privately run tournament, which starts on April 16, 2025, has drawn 444 club and academy teams from around the world. More than 350 volunteers help run the event.
Competition categories include U-19, U-18, U-16, U-15, U-14, U-13, U-12 (all boys) and U-16 (girls).
Main photo: One of the winning teams at the 2024 edition of the Mediterranean International Cup.
This story was first published on April 7, 2025.